Actor: Penny Singleton

As the Blondie series continued, it most have been difficult for the producers to think of predicaments that Dagwood had not been in yet, and they were eager to find any new untenable situations to place him in. In the 27th entry in the series, Dagwood is harassed by a fruit stand proprietor who is […]

Phew, I finally got the the last film in the Blondie series. In the 28th movie in the series, Dagwood stays up night preparing his tax return. He goes to his office half-dead and takes a nap at his desk. Confusingly, Dagwood’s boss J.C. Dithers, who was earlier written out of the series, is again […]

As the post-War Blondie films continued, the plots got weaker an weaker, and the slapstick comedy was increased to compensate for it. In the 25th film in the series, Dagwood is experimenting with chemistry, trying to invent a fire-repellent paint. He convinces his boss to give a public demonstration at his fishing cabin, which provides […]

The titles of some of the later Blondie films seem to have been picked out of a hat, as they seem to have little connection to the plot. The title of the 26th entry in the series may have made audiences think that Blondie was going to win a radio sweepstakes, but the story focuses […]

The 23rd film in the Blondie series revolves around a case of mistaken identity. Dagwood and Blondie’s son Alexander is getting older, and has started playing football with the neighbor boy Alvin fuddle, and they are being coached by a college football star. Dagwood is supposed to drop off some architectural plans at the home […]

The 24th film in the Blondie series resorts to a lot of slapstick comedy to fill out a rather weak plot, with people getting beaned on the head with tennis rackets, and dogs biting people in the rear. The Bumsteads are yet again waiting to go on a long-delayed vacation, when an important client requests […]

The Bumstead return from a two-week vacation, and Dagwood is feeling on top of the world. Things quickly start to go downhill, though, as he makes his way to his first day back at work. Trying to a jelly doughnut on a crowded commuter bus, Dagwood gets jelly all over the suit of a high-strung […]

I’ve gotten up to the 20th installment in the Blondie series. At this point, the movies are more than predictable, and somewhat less than funny, but I am a completist and want to watch the whole series straight through. But I find even the poorest Blondie films mildly entertaining. It is not really clear what […]

The 21st film in the Blondie series was written by Arthur Marx, son of Groucho, who had already had one successful career as a tennis player, and was just starting a second career as a screenwriter. Marx’s presence seems to have helped, as the script in the film is better than many of the other […]

The 22nd installment in the Blondie series follows the familiar pattern of Dagwood losing his job and Blondie coming up with a scheme to win it back, but this one is not nearly as funny as some of the earlier entries. The plot revolves around Dagwood and his boss trying to win a contract to […]

The 17th film in the Blondie series, Blondie’s Lucky Day, was released to theaters in the US on April 4, 1945, making it the last one to premier during World War II. The plot revolves around a sergeant from the Women’s Army Corps returning to civilian life whom the local mayor convinces Dagwood to hire […]

The 18th film in the Blondie series starts off with Dagwood learning that man with a reputation for being grumpy has moved into the neighborhood. He goes over to warm his heart and winds up wrecking his car and garage. The neighbor turns out to be a lawyer who files suit against Dagwood. Shemp Howard […]

After a rapid production schedule which brought out 14 Blondie films between 1938 and 1943, the series stopped for two years before resuming in 1945. I am not really sure why the series stopped or why it started again. This film was released in February of 1945, and I suspect that as the War dragged […]

The 16th film in the Blondie series is certainly better than the proceeding installment, and it seems the writers had gotten back into stride after a two year hiatus. The plot centers around the family dog, Daisy. The movie opens with Daisy being chased by the city dog catcher, who is furious that she is […]

For some reason, in the 13th installment in the Blondie series, Columbia decided for the first time to release the film under a title without the name Blondie, although it is easy to imagine the movie being billed on marquees as “Blondie in It’s a Great Life”. Otherwise, It’s a Great Life follows the formula […]

In the 14th installment of Blondie series, the whole Bumstead family gets the acting bug and takes to the stage in an amateur stage production. The play is ruined by Dagwood’s nervousness and suit filled with magicians tricks. The theatrical bomb was written by the daughter a prospective client of Dagwood’s boss, who sends her […]

By the time of the 10th film in the Blondie series, the producers must have been scratching their heads and trying to think of situations they had not covered yet. Someone had the idea of sending Blondie and Dagwood to college (the first time for both) and off the went. When his parents go off […]

At the end of Blondie Goes to College, the 10th installment of the Blondie series, the title character reveals that she is expecting a child, setting up the premise of the next film. At the opening of the 11th film, Blondie is expecting her second baby any minute. Due to the Hays Production code, the […]

Blondie’s Blessed Event, released in 1942 as the 11th film in the Blondie series, was the first to make passing reference to America’s then recent involvement in World War II. The end of the film, like so many others in the series, finds Dagwood fired from the J.C. Dithers Construction Company. A representative of the […]

For the 8th installment in the Blondie series, the producers decided to make a musical. The musical numbers kind of miss the mark, but fortunately there are not too many of them. The plot involves the Bumsteads and Dagwood’s boss going on a cruise to South America, only to receive a telegram at the last […]

The 9th installment in the Blondie series gives up on the movie musical format that was somewhat awkwardly adapted in the preceding Blondie Goes Latin, and returns to the screwy kind of plot that made the first film in the series a success. While all of the proceeding films ran exactly 70 minutes to make […]

By the time the Blondie series got to its fifth installment, Columbia most have realized that they were on a winning streak, and started to pour some more resources into the films, at the same time trying to to bring the films out as quickly as possible. Blondie On a Budget seems to have had […]

In the sixth installment of the Blondie series, the producers decided to make a comedy-horror of the type Abbott and Costello would capitalize on several years later. This one takes place largely outside the Bumstead home and the Dithers Construction Company office, so many of the familiar gags are gone, and the plot of this […]

Seventh installment in the Blondie series. On the 3rd of July, Blondie reads a newspaper warning on 4th of July safety and takes it to heart, forbidding Dagwood and Baby Dumpling to play with firecrackers. The boys try to hide some firecrackers, but that doesn’t last long. Blondie insists that they go visit her aunt […]

It is a busy week for me where I live, in Tokyo. It is Japan Fashion Week now, and I am out covering multiple fashion shows every day. What better way to unwind after a long day than some ’30s escapist entertainment. Dagwood losses his job (again), Blondie goes to see the boss to get […]

By the third film in the Blondie Series, the producers must have realized they were in a peculiar situation. In order to milk the popularity of the series for all it was worth, they had to deliver a recognizable product, and so in each installment there are a number of common plot points. Dagwood makes […]

With the forth film in the film in the Blondie series, it is clear that the producers felt confident that little Larry Simms, who played Baby Dumpling, was getting old enough to remember longer lines, and this film is centered mostly around him. Blondie is struggling to teacher her son the alphabet over breakfast and […]

I am not really sure why, but I got my hands on a big chunk of the series of 28 films that were based on the Blondie comic strip between 1938 and 1950. I thought I would watch the first one or two installments and leave it at that, expecting that the quality would quickly […]